Sasaki Talks Coastal Landscapes with LAF

In the face of devastating hurricanes in the United States and typhoons in China, it’s no wonder that many are discussing how to best cope with natural disasters. Coastal cities, most frequently in harm’s way, are exploring avenues to increase resiliency, as well as how to more quickly restore storm-impacted ecological systems.

Earlier this month, Landscape Architecture Frontiers (LAF) hosted a launch event for its recent issue, “Coastal Landscape,” along with an exhibition sponsored by IVM (L’Institut pour la Ville en Mouvement en Chine) and the French Embassy in China. The event featured discussions with practitioners from Sasaki, OLIN, and McGregor Coxall. The event was broadcast live to several thousand viewers across China.

As a speaker at the event, Sasaki Senior Associate Ming-Jen Hsueh, ASLA [pictured below], shared his personal observations on growing up in coastal cities, as well as his project experiences in dealing with environmental issues and Sasaki’s philosophy on coastal resiliency. Hsueh discussed several complex issues, from resiliency implementation strategies to the impacts of global storms, peppering these issues with tangible stories and precedents.

Sasaki Principals Gina Ford, ASLA, and James Miner, AICP, also contributed an article about the master plan for Alabama’s Gulf State Park in the latest issue of LAF. The strategic framework for the 6,150-acre park in coastal Alabama offers a new model for addressing increasingly complex environments. “In the framework, we offered up lessons learned from the planning and implementation process—which happened concurrently on Gulf State Park,” says Ford. “This unique circumstance allowed for an innovative process that serves as a new "adaptive" planning model consistent with the dynamism of the site itself."